Australian doctors turn to social media to book appointments for patients

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As it gets harder to locate specialist clinics with available slots, Australian doctors are turning to social media to help book appointments for their patients. Thousands of doctors have joined Facebook referral groups created to link healthcare providers and secure appointment times. In 2020, while she was on maternity leave, Adelaide General Practitioner Caitlin Sum launched a social media page directed at doctors only. What was a hobby for Sum has now become the main resource for doctors looking for appointments with specialists. The “Adelaide GP Referral Network,” as the Facebook page is called, counts more than 2,000 South Australian doctors. And it’s all about saving time. As a lot of specialists have stopped taking new patients, using social media to find one instead of doing endless internet searches or asking around makes a lot of sense. “I think it bridges that gap and allows us to communicate with each other better and get to know each other and communicate directly,” says General Practitioner Alex Main. “We would all love to spend less time doing admin, and more time seeing our patients,” says Dr. Sum. In the state of Victoria, 800 members have joined a similar social media page. According to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, there’s more and more pressure on general practitioners (GPs). The costs they face are increasing and waiting times for patients are growing. In this context, social media has become crucial for doing things like booking a specialist. “GPs in the medical profession are hyper-connected, and social media and those discussion spaces, just like everyone, is a really important resource that we use to connect,” says Royal Australian College of GPs president Dr. Nicole Higgins. These social media groups can only be joined by registered doctors. In order not to breach the Medical Board’s code of conduct, members can’t upload clinical photographs and patients can’t be identified. Sum says that because of the clear value of the service offered by the page, doctors have been abiding by the rules. This article was provided by The Associated Press.